Clarke Books

This is a story of Melinda, an independent and educated woman from Boston who lives comfortably, but feels there is more she can do with her life. She decides to take a chance and moves to the untamed west. She becomes the new teacher in Paris, Idaho, a rugged wilderness area that is filled with dangerous animals, outlaws and weather that can be extreme in all seasons. She struggles to adapt at first, but comes to love the area and people. She meets a mysterious rancher that she never imagined would some day be a part of her life.

I absolutely loved this book. Now, I may be biased that I adore late 1800's and anything to do with Wild West areas, but this story just amazed me. Creating a story based upon an independent, educated and strong women character, brings to light the type of women that helped make this country what it is today. Melinda learns to keep her guard up when she needs to, but letting it down can bring happiness in to your life. The themes of family, love, communication and friendship can be found throughout the book.

If you want to read a book that makes you smile at the end, this would be one of those books.

This book by new author Linda Weaver Clarke could benefit from being raked over by a sharp-eyed editor, but nonetheless it is an enjoyable tale of adventure and romance. Set in Idaho in the late 1800's, some of the words and themes do drift into modernity, yet the author has done her homework as to location and history. Be sure to read the Author's Notes at the end to see how Clarke has woven her family history as well as other facts and real events into the story. Overall, I enjoyed this very descriptive and sweet tale; the old-fashioned romance between an independent-minded girl from the city and a sensitive single-father rancher is heartwarming and still exciting in this age of fast and racy fare. Rated G for Good old-fashioned love story.

It is tough to find a sweet, clean romance. I enjoyed finding a book without anything inappropriate, yet it still had sweet love scenes between the characters. I love reading love stories with some adventure and that is what the author has done in this book. I really worried when Melinda got caught in the blizzard, but it turned out to be one of my favorite parts. This book is fun to read over and over because it leaves you with "warm fuzzies"! It is a great book that I would not be embarrassed to recommend to a friend or anyone.

This is a wonderful and refreshing book. It is set in a time and place that is fun to read about. Ms. Clarke describes the area so well I felt like I was there. This book is full of great adventure and romance. I couldn't put the book down and didn't want the story to end. When it was done I wanted to read it again.

I love the story between Gilbert and Melinda. She is strong willed and he is calm and laid back. They compliment each other even though they are such opposites. I also love how Gilbert is like her knight in shining armor.

This was a great book to enjoy over and over again. I recommend this book to everyone. I can't wait until the her next book comes out.

Genre: Historical fiction
Title: Melinda and the Wild West
AUTHOR: Linda Weaver Clarke
Twenty-six year old Melinda Gamble is an educated, independent woman in 1896 who yearns for marriage to a man whose passion and independence matches her own, and who will not try to mold her into a woman she can not be.

Melinda is a modern woman who pursued an education and wants a career and heart-fluttering love more than she wants a marriage to a man who would expect her to act according to his rules. Her parents hope her one year teaching obligation in the Wild West will convince Melinda that living a typical life in the hustle and bustle of Boston is much more pleasant than the unpredictable life in the harshness and barrenness of sparsely settled Paris, Idaho.

Linda Weaver Clarke seamlessly weaves true ancestral stories of a school teacher who lived in the place and time of an untamed Wild West with a fictional storyline to create a tale which pulls the reader more than one hundred years into the past. The reader is able to see the colors and gape at the awe-inspiring beauty of the Idaho landscape, taste fresh, cold spring water from within the mountains, inhale the clean mountain air, and gasp with fear at the unfamiliar and varied hostilities encountered in the journey.

This novel is the first for Linda Weaver Clarke and is also the first of four in the series A Family Saga in the Bear Lake Valley that mixes factual accounts with fiction.

The novel feels more like a conversation with a close friend, than a book full of words. A recommended read for those who love historical stories that transport you back in time with ease. Reviewer: Lisa Haselton, Allbooks Reviews.

Most helpful in understanding one another as well as actual methods to improve communication. We have now started giving this one away as a wedding gift or first anniversary gift. Also the book, His Needs Her Needs.

I am still reading this book, and want to post a few thoughts.

The basic thoughts about the differences between the way men and women think and respond are good, but Dr. Clarke's presentation seems to need some maturing and developing. There are humorous ways of presenting his basic ideas (men DO have clam-like ways to respond to a woman's probing, women tend to keep on prying when the man has clammed-up), but they come across as being too flippant. His writings sometimes fall into "Do what I recommend, and your marriage will work as promised." Real life and real people do not always work that way. One partner can do everything right, and their partner just may not respond in a positive way. They may, but there is no guarantee.

I am going to finish the book, looking for useful ideas (there are several), but so far, I am somewhat disappointed. I think Clarke's writings should be updated when he has an additional 20 years or so of experience to temper his enthusiasm with some hard knocks of real life.

This book is insightful, humorous, easy to read and understand. It is an essential book for libraries and a great gift idea for weddings. One critical part of the book talks about what happens to men if they don't express their feelings. This part is a little underemphasized because these repercussions (from not expressing emotions) are marriage threatening, addictive and destructive behaviors. There are other books that handle those topics I guess. However, I wish the author would have bolded or underlined this small section. It is easily missed. This is a book I will have on hand for gifts. It is a mandatory read!

David Clarke does an amazing job at humorously, yet informatively describing the differences between men and women in "Men are Clams, Women are Crowbars." Clarke uses an informal style that helps the reader to feel comfortable while learning about problems that he or she has in opposite sex relationships. Clarke uses rhetorical questions, metaphors, and allusions to make this self-help book fun and interesting to read. With comparisons of men and women using "I Love Lucy", male lions, and the Bible, the author produces a comical, yet practical approach to understanding men and women's differences and making them work. And in rhetorically speaking of the lion, Clarke says, "He is the leader to be admired and respected. Or is he"(59)? I thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to all couples, even those not married or engaged. "Men are Clams, Women are Crowbars" really helped me to understand the men in my life better.

I was hoping for something new and different, but this is the same old recycled stuff we've been hearing for years. I found Dr. Clarke to, at times, be extremely patronizing to his reading audience. Not every woman is a crowbar. Sometimes, unfortunately, there are 2 clams in a relationships which really leads to relationship problems. If you really want a good book on relationships, read some of the books by Florence Littauer and her husband. When my husband and I read their book, we found unique ideas and improved communication tools we could really use. Sorry, but for the more mature couple (50+ years old) this book didn't offer anything we haven't heard before.

I got this book because of the fuss that people make over the council of Nicea supposedly just tossing whatever books it felt like throwing out.

Well, after reading many of these books, it is apparent why. There are stories that are just to unbelievable and obviously fabricated to believe. Some writings were forgeries.

One thing you will see, however, across most of the books is that they all still refer to any of the following that many try to refute: 1) Jesus life, 2) His resurrection, 3) His death, 4) His Lordship, 5) His "Sonship" to the Father.

For every day leading and direction, I'll stick to the Bible.

For casual reading, I'll read the apocrypha.

This is the definitive reference on the Aprocrypha. There is a 2 volume set.

...here is my review of books that build on these those who are looking for better information on the "lost" books of the New Testament Bible and the concepts of Gnosticism.

Nearly all knowledgeable Biblical scholars realize there have been a wide range of writings attributed to Jesus and his Apostles..... and that some of these were selected for compilation into the book that became known as the Bible.....and that some books have been removed from some versions of the Bible and others have been re-discovered in modern times.

The attention focused on Gnosticism by Dan Brown's DaVinci Code may be debatable, but the fact is that increased attention on academics tends to be predominately positive, so I welcome those with first-time or renewed interest. At least first-timers to Gnosticism are not pursuing the oh-so-popular legends of the Holy Grail, Bloodline of Christ, and Mary Magdalene.

This is great......I seldom quote other reviewers, but there is one reviewer of Pagels' books who confided that he had been a Jesuit candidate and had been required to study a wide range of texts but was never was told about the Nag Hamadi texts. He said:

"Now I know why. The Gospel of Thomas lays waste to the notion that Jesus was `the only begotten Son of God' and obviates the need for a formalized church when he says, `When your leaders tell you that God is in heaven, say rather, God is within you, and without you.' No wonder they suppressed this stuff! The Roman Catholic Church hasn't maintained itself as the oldest institution in the world by allowing individuals to have a clear channel to see the divinity within all of us: they need to put God in a bottle, label the bottle, put that bottle on an altar, build a church around that altar, put a sign over the door, and create rubricks and rituals to keep out the dis-believing riff-raff. Real `Us' versus `them' stuff, the polar opposite from `God is within You.' `My God is bigger than your God' the church(s)seem to say. And you can only get there through "my" door/denomination. But Jesus according to Thomas had it right: just keep it simple, and discover the indwelling Divinity `within you and without you.'"

Here are quickie reviews of what is being bought these days on the Gnostic Gospels and the lost books of the Bible in general:

The Lost Books of the Bible (0517277956) includes 26 apocryphal books from the first 400 years that were not included in the New Testament.

Marvin Meyers' The Secret Teachings of Jesus : Four Gnostic Gospels (0394744330 ) is a new translation without commentary of The Secret Book of James, The Gospel of Thomas, The Book of Thomas, and The Secret Book of John.

James M. Robinson's The Nag Hammadi Library in English : Revised Edition (0060669357) has been around 25 years now and is in 2nd edition. It has introductions to each of the 13 Nag Hammadi Codices and the Papyrus Berioinensis 8502.

The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English (0140278079) by Geza Vermes has selected works....a complete work is more difficult to achieve than the publisher's marketing concept indicates. His commentary generates strong reactions.

Elaine Pagels has 2 books (The Gnostic Gospels 0679724532 and Beyond Belief : The Secret Gospel of Thomas 0375501568) that have received considerable attention lately. For many, her work is controversial in that it is written for popular consumption and there is a strong modern interpretation. She does attempt to reinterpret ancient gender relationships in the light of modern feminist thinking. While this is a useful (and entertaining) aspect of college women's studies programs, it is not as unethical as some critics claim. As hard as they may try, all historians interpret the past in the context of the present. Obviously there is value in our attempts to re-interpret the past in the light of our own time.

Also, to understand the Cathars......try Barbara Tuckman's Distant Mirror for an incredible historical commentary on how the Christian Church has handled other points of view

If you're serious about biblical research, volumes I and II are must haves for your library.

Note: See my other review on vol. 2 of New Testament Apcrypha

Since there is so much info in this book, I'll give the gist of my opinion. Anyone looking to study the New Testament SERIOUSLY should pick up this book, in fact, both volumes 1 and 2, as well as a good aid, preferably a text by James Charlesworth. These contain the important Gnostic writings found at Nag Hammadi as well as many other important writings, including the Gospel of the Egyptians, the Gospel of the 12, the Gospel of Judas, several Jesus Gospels, several Thomas Gospels (including the infancy Gospel) and all the other important writings from both the 2nd and 3rd century. A must for any Biblical Scholar's library. Oh, and I must say that I was impressed with the translations, especially the translation from the book's original language over to English. While the Apocrypha, despite what some "scholars" say shouldn't be taken seriously, they are important to study and this is the best collection of the NT Apocryphal texts out there.

I was very dissappointed with Schneemelcher's two volume; "New Testament Apocrypha". I ordered both volumes from amazon. First, it is exactly what I thought it wasn't. That is, it is filled with extracts, and sometimes very brief ones. For example, the Infancy Gospels, and the "Sybilline Oracles". Maybe I am wrong, but it seemed to me you could count on two hands how many complete texts it contained. I do not believe it even contained; "Nicodemus". Unless it was under an alternate title. Moreover, perhaps some will not agree, but it reminded me, in an offhand way, of a volume of Pre-Socratic philosophy. Or to take that even further, it seemed more a book -about- apocryphal literature; than the literature itself. Is that what it is? Or even a bibliography. Why is everyone calling this the ultimate edition? At nearly $100.00 I will probably return them. If it was half the cost, I might keep them for reference volumes. Thank You Nicandemus

BOOK REVIEW

Among the many attempts to piggyback on the movie "Pearl Harbor," this revised version of Thurston Clarke's 10-year-old book is among the most interesting.
First written for the 50th anniversary, most of "Pearl Harbor Ghosts" has worn well. But the lengthy section about islanders' resentment against the Japanese conquest of Hawaii by yen in the late '80s sounds odd in the 21st century, when most of those yen investments have been wiped out.
Clarke comments that it seems strange that a defeat, rather than a victory, should be so deeply engrained in America's consciousness, but we also remember the Alamo, as the British do Dunkirk. But it is remarkable that after six decades, the shock of that moment retains such force.
Clarke expresses the feeling in many ways, but his most pungent comment is that the islands' "beauty must have unhinged the purpose of their defenders." The contrast between the putative paradise and the flaming immolation of Pearl Harbor, Hickam, Kaneohe and Wheeler is easy to feel even at this distance -- easier, probably, than the shock of German tanks rolling across the sandy plains of Poland in 1939.
Also, Clarke notes, Oahu's military bases have changed little since 1941, compared with the rest of the island, so a visitor can more easily imagine the extraordinary calm of the opening hours of Dec. 7, 1941.
Or perhaps it is just that great events set all perceptions at higher resolution. Accounts of the Battle of Britain mention that the weather in southern England in June of 1940 was exceptionally sweet. Perhaps it was, but perhaps that is mostly an artifact or trick of memory, contrasting the usual with the unanticipated.
Though it was not unanticipated by all. Admiral Husband Kimmel and Lt. Gen. Walter Short were culpably lax in the last weeks of 1941, but real fighting men, like Vice Adm. William Halsey, were not. Clarke has nothing to say about Halsey on that day, but on Dec. 7, Halsey's planes and guns were armed and his commanders had orders to shoot the Japanese on sight. They were in the wrong place, though.
Clarke spends much time investigating the complex attitudes of and toward the Japanese and Japanese-Americans in Hawaii.
Clearer sighted than most, he critically evaluates the claim -- now inviolable PC doctrine -- of their total loyalty to the United States. It is true that no "acts of sabotage" were recorded, but this view of uncomplicated patriotism practically devalues the remarkable attitude of Hawaii's (and the Mainland's) Japanese. Clarke does them the credit of understanding that they were pulled in both directions and had a moral choice to make.
The suspicion directed against the Japanese (and what is usually forgotten but which Clarke properly takes into account, against Germans and Italians) is usually treated today as a compound of racism, blindness and stupidity. It was all of those, but there was more to it than that.
The government of Japan, equally with many in the government of the United States, expected many or most Japanese in America to side with their ancestral country. For white Americans, the fact that they had refused Japanese immigrants the chance to become American citizens made such speculations logical.
That logic was trumped, it turned out, by a loftier conception. Though the Japanese who came to America had not enjoyed all the benefits implicit and explicit in the Constitution, they believed in them anyhow.
Clarke does a better job than most of untangling this issue, but it was even more complex than he lets on. In the 1930s, many responsible people (among them, President Franklin Roosevelt) seriously feared that the United States was on the verge of revolution.
And there were plenty of real subversives around to lend credibility to their fears. Hundreds of thousands of traitors lived in the United States and were supporting Axis war aims during most of the 21 months after September 1939. Only they were not, for the most part, Japanese, Italian or German, but Communists and Popular Fronters taking orders from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Popular history has given them an undeserved pass.
To a degree, the Pearl Harbor ghosts have been laid. On a sunny day at Pearl Harbor, long lines of visitors wait patiently to enter the overcrowded USS Arizona Memorial. Americans and Japanese stand quietly together.

This book is not like other books about Pearl Harbor. Most of the others deal mainly with the events leading up to the attack and the attack itself. Mr. Clarke has chosen a different path with Pearl Harbor Ghosts. He has concentrated on the evolution of Hawaii and Honolulu from the time of the attack to the present day and inserted lessons that may be learned from the attack. Before December 7, 1941, Honolulu and the Hawaiian islands were nothing like they are today. Life consisted of working shortened days so that one could go to the docks to see an ocean liner off. Lazy sugarcane fields and pineapple plantations covered the soil. Life was much simpler. But December 7 changed Hawaii from a tropical paradise into a modernized military outpost. Gone were the lazy drives up winding roads to the beach. The rule of the day now was working long hours to repair the damage done by the Japanese. Americans and Hawaiians, as explained by the author, had developed a sense of arrogance. No one in their right mind thought that a bunch of inferior people could attack the United States by surprise. We were, unfortunately, proven wrong. One partiular aspect of this book which I especially enjoyed was the discussion of the Japanese islanders and thier treatment after the attack. Many of the Japanese were rounded up and put in internment camps on the mainland. Large numbers of the nisei (second generation Japanese) had joined the American armed forces, and now faced the horrible task of fighting an enemy that looked just like themselves. Others simply left the islands altogether. Some of the nisei were simply discharged from their units after the attack and given no explanations. After time, a full nisei Regiment was developed, fought in the European theater, and became the most decorated group in the war. Still, even 60 years after that disasterous day, many American survivors still harbor ill feelings toward the Japanese. Will these feelings ever go away for these men? That is a difficult question to ask. Meanwhile, Honolulu has developed like most other American cities. Gone are many of the plantations and palm trees, having been replaced by shopping malls and skyscraper office buildings. The dirt roads have been mostly replaced by interstates. And the Pearl Harbor ghosts still linger for some of the survivors. Will they ever be completely forgotten?

This book is more anecdotal than historical. The book doesn't dwell on the minutiae of military history, but it does perfectly set the scene of Honolulu during the days leading up to the attack, Dec. 7, and the days immediately after the attack. We learn about the complex ethnic mix on the island of Oahu; how military leaders were more concerned about internal sabotage than external attack; how people from all walks of life -- soldiers and civilians -- responded to the attack. I had a greater appreciation for the people and place of Honolulu after reading this book.

"Pearl Harbor Ghosts", by Thurston Clarke, sub-titled: "The Legacy Of December 7, 1941." Ballantine Books, New York, 1999 & 2001.
The extensive research by the author, Thurston Clarke, is marred, in my opinion, by a tendency towards sensationalism. Clarke's agenda is not really clear, but when a choice can be made, his writing tended towards the more popular and more sensational. For example, on page 22, Clarke writes that the Japanese spy, Ensign Yoshikawa, was not on either list of suspects to be detained in case of war. The implication, of course, being that the FBI and military intelligence were sort of incompetent in pre-war Hawaii. A very casual check on my part found in John Toland's book, " Infamy. Pearl Harbor And Its Aftermath", that secret agent Takeo Yoshikawa was burning code books during the Pearl Harbor attack, but within ten minutes of the bombs beginning to fall, "...someone shouted, `Open the door!' The door caved in and Lieutant Yoshio Hasegawa of the Honolulu police burst in with several men. They began stamping on the smoldering code books". It would seem that Yoshikawa was on someone's list, and to imply otherwise is tending towards sensationalism.

On pages 133-134, the author, T. Clarke, presents a case for calling the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the A-bomb drop on Hiroshima as "sneak attacks". The sneak attack on Pearl Harbor is obvious, but making the use of a nuclear weapon on Hiroshima "sneaky" is illogical and sensational.

Clarke let his book follow the popular movie plots, so that he tells you, on page 192, that the name of the black mess attendant (recall the movie) on the "West Virginia" was Doris Miller and that he earned the Navy Cross. For some reason, however, he does not mention that fifteen (15) Medals of Honor were awarded for the action at Pearl Harbor. For example, when the "Oklahoma" turned turtle and capsized, Ensign Francis Flaherty pushed the last sailor out of the turret, thereby trapping himself in the sinking battle ship. I wonder if Clarke missed a grand opportunity to develop more "ghosts" by interviewing the sailors who had been saved by this officer's bravery. What did those men accomplish in the remainder of the war? Did they survive? Where are they now?

Take a look at the picture of the USS Arizona's band at Bloch Arena (following page 204). On page 84, Mr. Clarke comments and sees them as ghosts already, "...sitting ... in dress whites and already a ghostly presence". Unfortunately for Mr. Clarke's comments, in the late 1930s, the U. S. Navy did away with "dress white" uniforms for enlisted men. The picture in his book clearly shows the Arizona's band in undress whites with neckerchiefs.

Finally, the group that called the Opana Radar Site as an "electrical engineering milestone" (page 99) was NOT the Institute of Electrical Engineers, which is British, but rather was the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), an American organization, which at 300,000 member engineers is usually considered the world's largest professional group.
Sincerely, John Peter Rooney, Senior Member IEEE.

This book is a great in-depth look at Pearl Harbor and its impact from 1941 to today.

It gives the best sense of what it was like to be on Oahu from the days leading to the attack to the days following the attack, and then it compares them to the present day.

I had a better sense of what Pearl harbor was like after reading this book than after all the other Pearl Harbor books I've read (and it's been quite a few) combined.

If you're at all interested in Pearl Harbor, read this book.

Jamie and Alan found out more about themselves on that mountian then they ever would have imagined. Some of it was bad, but most of it seemed to be positive. They learned that it's not necessarily the summit that makes you succeed but the path you take to get there. It had me almost in tears at times and I was surprised that it had the power and appeal to do that. If you stories of hope then this is for you.

Simultaneously, "The Power of Passion: Achieve Your Own Everest" is both entertaining and self-developmental. Much like a Steinbeck novel that fully captures our attention, when I read Hobson and Clarke's reflections of their Everest adventure I felt more like I was there with them at their cold high altitude camps than here as a reader in the comfortable warmth of my cozy den. On the other hand, and at a deeper level, as their subtitle "Achieve Your Own Everest" implies, Hobson and Clarke are writing about every human's pursuit of their deepest (tallest) dream. As their title implies, "The Power of Passion" is necessary to fuel our journeys toward accomplishing our dreams. While all the current business achievement hype acknowledges our need for preparation, relationship skills, and execution, Hobson and Clarke found their biggest and most enduing obstacle in their differences of values. Additionally, their underlying struggle, "were they leaders or were they climbers" is an interesting metaphor for a common phenomenon that we see in today's controversial business and politics.

While I was tempted to read "The Power of Passion: Achieve Your Own Everest" in a single setting, I found great value in reflecting on each chapter's situations...and asking myself, "how were their situations in their pursuit of summiting Mount Everest similar to the struggles that each of us experiences in our own everyday lives." Interestingly, Hobson and Clarke's journeys and course corrections are applicable models for achieving our own interpersonal and professional goals. I highly recommend this reading for professionals searching their way up the Mount Everest's in their careers.

Sorry, I never heard Hobson or Clarke speak, but have read their book which is OUTSTANDING! Although it's supposed to be about Mountain climbing, it's about reaching your own Everest in life and winning.I would love to hear these two speak in person. In the meantime I will enjoy re-reading this book to conquer my own Everest.Great book guys. Possibly the mst under-rated self help/motivational bookout there.

Ditto on what Rockford Illinois said: I heard Jamie Clarke speak and found him to be quite fascinating and was inspired to get and read his book, "The Power of Passion". The book was very good but not near as good as hearing Mr. Clarke speak in person. If you ever have a chance to hear him speak, don't miss it. If not that, read his book. It's more than about climbing a mountain, it's about striving to do our best, to try our hardest in what ever we do every day. Everyone has a "mountain". We each need to face the challenge and strive to do our best to conquer it. ********** I bought multiple copies of this book to hand out to friends! All of my friends now own a copy, so I want to share this with all of my Amazonian friends! Enjoy!!!

I heard Jamie Clarke speak and found him to be quite fascinating and was inspired to get and read his book, "The Power of Passion". The book was very good but not near as good as hearing Mr. Clarke speak in person. If you ever have a chance to hear him speak, don't miss it. If not that, read his book. It's more than about climbing a mountain, it's about striving to do our best, to try our hardest in what ever we do every day. Everyone has a "mountain". We each need to face the challenge and strive to do our best to conquer it.

Some time back I became embroiled in an online debate over what constitutes science fiction. There are those who feel that only things that are actually possible should be regarded as "science fiction"; and that all else (including "Star Wars" and virtually everything else) should be considered "science fantasy". Others feel that that such distinctions are pointless and the term "science fiction" need not be so particular. I fall in the latter category, while, at least based on this volume, Clarke falls in the former.

I purchased this book in the hope it would be a "primer" to reading some of Clarke's novels. I am very big on chronology; I am reading all of the James Bond novels in order (even though I find most of John Gardner's entries bland) and was considering reading Clarke's "Childhood's End" until I noticed that the story that prefaced it ("Guardian Angel") was in this collection. Seeing that it also contained "The Sentinel", which I had always been curious of since seeing "2001" in a college film course, I decided this book would be a good place to start.

Reading this book was, for me, sort of like eating a salad. I knew the stories were good, but I didn't really enjoy them. Clarke is clearly a brilliant man, but his writing just isn't my cup of tea. The stories in this collection were interesting, but little else. I think the only one that will really stick with me is the titular story, which has piqued my interest enough that I may well read "2001" someday, but not anytime soon.

This could be a good purchase for the casual science fiction looking to explore the different realms of the genre and see if Clarke's work is what they are looking for. More serious fans will likely be more interested in the larger collections of Clarke's work.

In 1948, Arthur C. Clarke submitted a short story, The Sentinel, to a BBC contest; which he did not win. However, the story was published in the Avon Science Fiction and Fantasy Reader in 1951, and in 1964 he returned to the story and began expanding it into a novel. He and the filmmaker Stanley Kubrick used this as the basis for a movie script which, in 1968, became 2001 : A Space Odyssey; for which both received Oscar nominations.

Especially considering the opacity for which the movie is notorious, the story is remarkably spare and straightforward. The narrator, a lunar geologist, recalls cooking sausage one morning at a research base on the Moon, when the rising sun revealed a metallic glimmer on the rock wall of Mare Crisium. He and a compatriot climbed the crater rim and found :

[A] roughly pyramidal structure, twice as high as a man, that was set in the rock like a gigantic, many-faceted jewel.

Though they initially believed it to be a relic of a lost lunar civilization (notice it is much different than the black obelisks which were eventually used in the movie), they soon realized that it must have been placed there billions of years ago by an advanced race from another planet. It took twenty years, but finally they were able to penetrate a protective shield around the crystal by using atomic upon it. Now they understand the structure to have been a kind of sentinel, waiting to alert the beings who placed it there that finally the human race has achieved a sufficient level of development to be worthy of their notice.

I particularly like the way that this tale, written by a renowned futurist at the dawn of the space age, actually resonates with age old religious concerns. The simple idea at its core is that it is by increasing our knowledge and developing our technological prowess that we will become superior beings, even gods. The geologist sagely worries, as must anyone who recalls the Fall of Man and the Tower of Babel, that the beings who left behind this early warning signal may even be jealous of our advances and may not be all that happy to find that they finally have company. Like all of the best tales of the fantastic, The Sentinel, though ostensibly about the future, illuminates the very mundane concerns we've always had about the nature of our being and our role in the order of things.

GRADE : A

The most amazing thing about these stories is that they were written around the 50s, but it sure doesn't seem so. Clarke is a scientist, to be sure, but he doesn't overwhelm you with it. I think that's especially admirable since he could have easily fallen back on the science as a crutch and let this guide his stories. Instead, he spends equal time working on characterization, and the stories are better for it. His characters are supplied with quirks and attitudes which we can all relate to, even if you're not the captain of a space freighter or an envoy to a mysterious alien race.

This collection was actually released about 15 years ago, as I recall. It was definitely due for a reprint, as it was in my mind an instant classic... a perfect combination of carefully-selected stories, informative intros, and beautiful illustrations by Lebbeus Woods. Cheers to iBooks!

Being a Clarke fan since childhood, my first book was literally Childhood's End. I was looking forward to the re-release of this title, but I won't pay for a new intro when I have all these short stories elsewhere (The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke). I recommend Collected Stories to everyone contemplating buying The Sentinel. Collected Stories covers nearly every worthwhile short story that Clarke has published or you can buy a dozen or so shorter volumes with a lot of overlap. This single omnibus is a much better deal.

This book contains some of my favourite short stories by Clarke. The book contains the following stories -

* Rescue Party - I havent read this story before, and found it a bit disappointing. Actually a bit pointless - just an ode to the human race.

* Guardian Angel - this story 'gave birth' to childhood's end. I havent read the book (yet), and have enjoyed the story a lot - especially the little surprise at the end and those parts of the story that show Clarke's scientific background.

* Breaking Strain - this story takes a known theme (which I'll not tell even in short so as not to spoil to those who havent read the story) into space, and the fact that it's somewhat predictable made it too long for my taste.

* The Sentinel - this story gave the inspiration to '2001: A Space Odyssey'. For some strange reason, I've never found a copy of this story in Israel in any stories collection or translation to Hebrew (though 2001 was translated to Hebrew). Though I allready new the plot, I enjoyed this story a lot.

* Jupiter V - I recommend this book just for this story. It's very interesting, and I just couldnt let the book out of my hand till I finished this story.

* Refugee.

* The Wind from the Sun - the idea of ships that sail by solar-wind race each other really caught me.

* A Neeting with Medusa.

* The Songs of Distant Earth - actually, I didnt like this one. I've read the 'none-original' version, and liked it a lot better.

Now that I take regular 1-hour trips by train twice a week and have returned to reading short stories, I'm glad I've found this book - it's very interesting reading, and shows all the good sides of short stories.

I love this smoothie book. It has everything you want in a great cookbook. Each smoothie is easy to make and a beautiful picture of every smoothie is provided with the recipe. Ingrediants are very simple and easy to find at the grocery store. This book is a must for smoothie lovers.

This book has 60 tempting creations, indexed by title. There are no categories. However, information is offered for stir-ins and supplements. In addition, there is a section called "Let's get started", which provides basic information to get anyone making smoothies. There is also a nice index at the end of the book that lists ingredients. This would be very helpful if you wanted to make a particular smoothie from something you had on hand. The degree of difficulty of these recipes is minimal. Most, if not all, of the smoothies could be made from ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen. They utilize sherbet, fruits, juices and yogurt. There are no recipes that include tofu or soy milk, though you could make your own substitutions. All can be made in minutes with no preparation required ahead of time. Finally, if you like pictures, this is the book for you. Every drink is showcased in glasses from around the world. Ms. Clarke also invites you to her web site for free recipes. By P. Everett.

I was very disappointed to find sherbert or frozen yogurt in nearly every recipe, more than 55 of the 60. I was looking for healthly drink recipes, which I've gotten from several other smoothie recipe books. If I wanted sherbert or frozen yogurt, I'd just eat that and not go through the trouble of mixing up a smoothie. If you want to snack on sherbert with mix-ins, the recipes probably taste very good, and the pictures are attractive. I prefer the fresh and frozen fruit smoothies, making this book pretty useless for me.

After trying several smoothie books and shops, this book has the best recipes! The recipes are categorized by the juice used in the smoothie, with an index list in the back, making it easy to find recipes using ingredients on hand. I generally like smoothies to be made with sherbet, but there are substitution suggestions throughout the book which help you to adjust the recipes according to your own tastes, like if you prefer to use tofu, yogurt or ice instead of sherbet. And the page with crunchies and supplement suggestions helps to make the smoothies into meal replacements. There are also recipes for homemade sorbet, smoothie pie, salad dressing, dips and more. Not only is it all easy, but extremely delicious. I just couldn't get enough of this one.

I recently recieved a copy of this book and the first thing that was amazing to me was the ease of each recipe. The smoothies are delicious. I have tried many different smoothie bars and these rival the best. I hope that the author will continue and focus her efforts on other cookbooks.

Paulo Coelho takes you through his adventure on his road to Santiago. You feel like you are there with him learning the practices of RAM and understanding life. This is one book that you tell your friends about what you learned. Life makes a little more sense after reading this book.

Follow coelho and his adventures in Spain. Good exercises follow each section to help you develop along life's journey. What would it be like to have committment? What would it be like to learn about yourself in a whole new way? This is a good book for the personal visionquest.

The Diary of a Magus is the best book to understand the simplicity of all things. The author,in his way to Santiago de Compostela, tell us how beautiful and simply is life, with the RAM practices, the conversation with his guide, and all the things that he was feeling inside. In all his way to find his sword, he teach us a lot of things, and the best of all: "Humility" I recommend you to read this book, and you will understand.

This is one of Coelho's earlier works. with the events described occuring in the mid-80's. I believe that it has since been re-released under a different title. Pilgrimage...I think. It is written as a narrative with the author himself as the protagonist, similar to Valkyries. In a sense, it is a tale of the author comiming of age. Admittedly, the author was in his mid-30's if not early 40's when the events take place so it is not the usual coming of age tale. Rather, it deals with the struggle for spiritual maturity.

The story describes the author's pilgrimage across nothern Spain to Santiago de Compostela, an ancient route of Christian pilgrimage in Europe. He makes the journey with a mentor who is on his own spiritual quest. Much of the book describes various adventures and tasks that the author is given as learning experiences. Through this process of overcoming the obstacles in his path the author learns the meaning of humble service, true power, and emerges a wiser and more mature person as a result.

The book contains about ten meditations and spiritual exercises that the reader can do on his or her own apart from reading the story. The exercises are quite good on their own.

This tale doesn't have quite the magical quality of The Alchemist, even though the supernatural is a subtext throughout the story. However, it offers the reader a great deal and is well worth the time spent on it. It is a good book from a great author.

I came to this book by random selection. I am happy that I did. There are moments i the book where the simplest explanations of things brings new light to the world around you. This could be because of a connection to your own feelings or an epiphany. In the book Paulo mentions that teaching is illustrating that somehthing is possible, while learning is making it possible for yourself. Paulo has shared his path toward enlightenment. It is possible by his example. This is not some guru type, metaphysical enlightenment that cannot be reached. It is rather something practical that each person must face alone and find a different answer to. It is possible.

This was my class text 12 years ago and is still the best beginners book on wine. It covers all the basics with no fluff. Read it twice, once before a vineyard tour and/or wine class and once after. Cheers!

It's hard to think of a book re-printed as recently as 1997 (3rd edition in this case, which is the one I have at home) as being BADLY out of date, but when it comes to wine, that's par for the course.

Oz Clarke is one of the better, and less corrupt, wine writers out there, and I've enjoyed what few of his books I've read thus far.

Anyway, this book is one of his earlier offerings. Other books he's published since have rendered this obsolete (not that I was very surprised), and I have no doubt that it will soon drop out of print entirely.

It's a good book, but Clarke focused a tad too much on specific vineyards and vintages. His more recent books (those appearing on Amazon anyway) appear to have shifted emphasis to grapes and regions (a wise decision, IMNSHO). He still covers vineyards and vintages, though, and as time goes by those newer books will become dated in turn as a result ... as all books on wine invariably do.

BOTTOM LINE: Although it's a good book, it's been superceeded by more recent offerings by the same author, and is about to go out of print. Save your money.

This is about the best wine book I've browsed through and possess. While other books out there speak to a true expert or the wine lover who feels above the crowd, Oz Clarke speaks to everyone. Expert and novice alike. The info is pretty complete for such a small book. He gives the essentials but leaves room for you to research further if you so choose. He takes the mystery out of it and can get anyone to walk into a wine store and actually understand what the heck's going on.

This book achieves a lot in its small but well printed and organized volume. Almost in each wine region, Oz hits the right spot in relating the geography, climate, soil, vintages and grapes to the vividly discribed wine taste. It enables beginners start to enjoy the pleasure of selecting, tasting and drinking wine without paying much tuitions.

Less encyclopedic than some of Hugh Johnson's or Frank Schoonmaker's books, this is still a good basic guide to wines of the world. It includes sections on choosing wine (the characteristics of different varieties and styles of wine), buying and storing wine, serving wine, vineyard and winery techniques, a glossary and a vintage guide. The essence of the book is the regional description of wines. The color photos of vine- yards are often smaller than I would like, but they do add something to the attraction of the book as do the wine label photos. Having lived for a number of years in Germany, I was disappointed to find some of my favorite wines missing from the book (i.e., Ockfener Bockstein from the Saar region)or Urziger Schwarzlay (hope I'm spelling that correctly) and Urziger Wurzgarten from the Mosel. However, some would be difficult to find in most American cities. He does a better job detailing French wines and does put in a good word for the Scheurebe grape (a crossing of varieties that produces some lovely German wines). He also brings the reader up to date on replantings in Napa Valley, California and other locales where vintners are still deciding on the best variety of grape for a specific site. I would enthusiastically recommend this book to someone learning about wines, but it would be supplemented by one or more of Hugh Johnson's books and books specifically on US wines and German wines.

I was very happy with the conditioon of the books and they were just what I was looking for . I couldn't have been more happy

I wish I had a mentor like Bishop Ryle, to tutor me in theology and ethics. Here is the preciousness of a God-centered, people-loving preacher, whose preaching is full with the exaltation of the God-Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the call for "men everywhere to repent" and believe and savor Him. Isn't this what the gospel, the Old and the New Testament all about? In the text, Ryle takes a chunk of passage consisting of several verses, then draws a few lessons out of it that contains both theology; the doctrines of Jesus Christ, the Trinity, Election and perseverance of the saints, for example, AND the applications how we could use the lesson from God's Word to better commune and worship God, conduct our life and treat each other everyday without any jargons, yet stunningly captivating. Next, he expounds the passage verse by verse, not only through his own interpretation, but he also compares what others think; mostly from such heavyweights as Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Beza, Melanchton, Chysosthom and some English-speaking preachers and theologians. He sometimes scrutinizes meticulously to the point that I think in some cases he overanalyzes. With all these said, without discounting the role of the Holy Spirit in granting the wisdom and discernment to understand the Scriptures which I consider crucial and must-have, I love what Ryle does here. This is why God gives teachers to the church. I reject the idea that all one needs is the Bible without having to learn from what others teach about biblical theology as arrogant, particularly if those "others" are the servants of God who have been proven solid in doctrinal faithfulness and ministry. If B.B Warfield spent his quiet time and prayed with Matthew Henry's commentary open, though I wouldn't do the same, but I would still study Ryle. It is worth your time and energy.

Bishop JC Ryle's Expository Thoughts on the Gospels are excellent commentaries that will inform and provide a wealth of insight into the Gospels. Highly recommended.
The set of four hardcover volumes (Matthew & Mark, Luke, & two volumes of John) from Baker Books are attractively bound.
A set of seven paperback volumes (Matthew, Mark, two volumes of Luke & three volumes of John) are also available from another publisher, The Banner of Truth Trust. These paperback volumes can be purchased separately.
Apart from the binding and the number of volumes in each set, the only practical difference I can discern between the two is that the text in the Banner of Truth paperback volumes seems to have a lighter, but clearer, print.

The Bishop JC Ryle probably wrote these expository thoughts over a 100 years ago. But his comments on the text are timeless and very practical. He has a wonderful gift of being able to glean the messages and the points in each scripture. And he is a master at applying the scriptures to comtemporary life.

Having said that, like all other expositions of holy writ, you need to use Ryle's work judiciously. Every once in a while, he brings out points in a passage that may not be salient for the needs of your sermon. And he sometimes divides passages into smaller sections when you may choose to preach the larger section. But these are minor points. I can think of a number of times when my brain was fried and Ryle provoked my thinking and gave me some seminal expository thoughts. And that's exactly what the preacher needs.

Having very carefully reviewed J.C. Ryle's commentary on St. Matthew's Gospel...and I do mean carefully, I have found him to be matchless for simplicity and depth of insight. I have begun St. John's Gospel and am unsurprised by this classical, pan-Protestant exposition of the Gospels. Here and there is an evangelical Anglican note or two. He appears to be arguing against the ritualist and Oxfordian movement in the Church of England at points, but in no way does this mar or obtrude into the exposition. Their are Puritan elements in the exposition as Ryle explores the soul and its responses to the claims of a sovereign Redeemer. He is an old-school, evangelical, Calvinistic Anglican. I would travel far and wide to hear him, were he alive today. Fortunately, we have his expositions of the Gospels. I look forward to giving the same careful analysis to John's Gospel (already begun) that I did with his exposition of Matthew's Gospel. What a beacon of clarity and poignancy not often heard in American pulpits.